Wallace Shawn: Wrestling With Success

Inconceivable! The actor on falling into acting and his real love: playwriting

By

Alexandra Wolfe

June 6, 2014 5:56 p.m. ET

Actor and playwright Wallace Shawn wants to turn off the music. He's sitting in a studio in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York, near where he lives, with a melancholy song playing very quietly in the background. "I don't think we should let the music influence the conversation," he says. "Why should we start off on a sad note?"

With the room quiet, Mr. Shawn relaxes on a couch. His voice is so distinctive that it immediately calls to mind his characters in "The Princess Bride," "My...